Randall Kline, founder of SFJazz, in the stairway of his new jazz venue in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, January 2, 2013. After 30 years of having concerts in rented halls is opening the SFJAZZ center in the Civic Center later this month.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Randall Kline, founder of SFJazz, in the stairway of his new jazz...

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Cavagnero's firm's Public Safety Building in San Francisco's once-industrial, rapidly revamping Mission Bay is set to open in 2014.

Photo: HOK + Mark Cavagnero Associates

Cavagnero's firm's Public Safety Building in San Francisco's...

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Mountain View's austere Community School of Music and Arts at Finn Center.

Photo: Eric Luse, SFC

Mountain View's austere Community School of Music and Arts at Finn...

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Cavagnero designed the low-key makeover of the Oakland Museum of California near Lake Merritt.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

Cavagnero designed the low-key makeover of the Oakland Museum of...

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The Charlie Sava pool facility gave S.F.'s Parkside District a shot of modernity.

Photo: Frederic Larson, The Chronicle

The Charlie Sava pool facility gave S.F.'s Parkside District a shot...

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A member of the Jacob Garchik Brass Choir warms up on the second floor balcony. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

A member of the Jacob Garchik Brass Choir warms up on the second...

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Members of the Bourbon Kings Band play as they march into the newly opened Jazz Center.Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Members of the Bourbon Kings Band play as they march into the newly...

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The Bourbon Kings Band plays in the lobby as guests stream into the newly opened Jazz Center.Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

The Bourbon Kings Band plays in the lobby as guests stream into the...

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Suzie Lundy and Rashidi Omari dance while the Bourbon Kings band plays outside of the SF Jazz Center. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Suzie Lundy and Rashidi Omari dance while the Bourbon Kings band...

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Crowds fill the auditorium as they get a first glimpse at the new SF Jazz Center. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Crowds fill the auditorium as they get a first glimpse at the new...

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Robert Mailer Anderson gives a short speach praising the new Jazz Center. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Robert Mailer Anderson gives a short speach praising the new Jazz...

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The facade of the Jazz Center is seen reflected in the glasses of Alex Derries of San Francisco as she listens to speakers during the opening. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

The facade of the Jazz Center is seen reflected in the glasses of...

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Members of the Jacob Garchik Brass Choir play on the second level balcony of the Jazz Center for the crowds gathered below. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Members of the Jacob Garchik Brass Choir play on the second level...

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John Santos holds the scissors after he Laila Smith(L) cut the ribbon on the brand new SF Jazz Center. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

John Santos holds the scissors after he Laila Smith(L) cut the...

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Members of the Bourbon Kings Band play as they march into the newly opened Jazz Center.Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Members of the Bourbon Kings Band play as they march into the newly...

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Names of donors are seen on the large windows at street level. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Names of donors are seen on the large windows at street level....

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Photographs of Jazz legends by Herman Leonard are seen on the building across the street from the Center. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Photographs of Jazz legends by Herman Leonard are seen on the...

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People look out from the second floor balconies at the crowds below. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

People look out from the second floor balconies at the crowds...

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The High School All-Stars band plays the first ever set during the grand opening. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

The High School All-Stars band plays the first ever set during the...

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A view of the completed stage and seating area. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

A view of the completed stage and seating area. Grand opening of...

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Suzie Lundy(center) dances while the Bourbon Kings band plays outside of the SF Jazz Center. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Suzie Lundy(center) dances while the Bourbon Kings band plays...

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Names of donors are seen on a large wall in the main lobby of the Center. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Names of donors are seen on a large wall in the main lobby of the...

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The High School All-Stars band plays the first ever set during the grand opening. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

The High School All-Stars band plays the first ever set during the...

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The High School All-Stars band plays the first ever set during the grand opening. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

The High School All-Stars band plays the first ever set during the...

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Former mayor Willie Brown is seen in attendance. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Former mayor Willie Brown is seen in attendance. Grand opening of...

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Executive Artistic Director Randall Kline speaks to guests and the gathered crowd prior to the ribbon cutting. Grand opening of the new SF Jazz Center on Franklin Street in San Francisco, CA Monday January 21st, 2013.

Some architects aim to dazzle with flash, with eye-popping forms or cloud-piercing heights.

As Mark Cavagnero walked through the new $64 million home his firm designed for SFJazz, he paused on the lobby staircase to explain how the titanium steel posts that support the handrails relate to both the railings inside the auditorium and the bicycle racks outside by the street.

"We took the idea of these double plates and tried to see how far we could trace it through," Cavagnero said. "I like that aspect of the work, thinking about all the implications of what these things are and how they come together."

There have been a dozen such projects of this sort in the Bay Area since the Connecticut native set up shop in San Francisco in 1988, and now comes his most visible one yet: the SFJazz Center at Fell and Franklin streets. The three-story box contains a 700-seat auditorium as well as a cafe and small theater along the sidewalk, and it occupies a busy corner on the boundary between the Civic Center and Hayes Valley.

The tall ground floor is see-through glass; above it, extending 4 feet over the sidewalk, alternating bands of clear and translucent glass sit within a lean concrete shell. The two floors within the shell are different heights, and the glass bands don't line up from one floor to the next. The off-center syncopation helps draw your eye to the building, even though it is shorter than both its neighbors.

The exterior has the feel of other Cavagnero buildings, poised but somewhat austere. Inside is where things warm up.

Warm auditorium

The best example is the main auditorium, a steep, monochromatic world unto itself. The concrete floors were sanded once, then again, then coated with a clear seal. The walls and ceiling are covered by thin slats of oak stained a soft gray-green. The seating extends all the way around the stage, darker than the floors but lighter than the ceiling and walls, the various sections folding against each other in such a way that there's no clear differentiation between the center and the sides.

"I didn't want anything axial, where you feel like you should be in the middle," said Cavagnero, who looked for design cues in Boston's Old South Meeting Hall as well as Unitarian churches designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn.

As for the unusual treatment of the ceiling - no grand chandelier, much less the exposed ductwork associated with many jazz venues - Cavagnero said he sought "a perfect volume that leads your eye back to the stage and the music, instead of up to the ceiling. That can be a distraction."

If the auditorium is Cavagnero's most fully realized environment to date, such rigorous care is a hallmark of projects by the 30-member firm. It's also in sync with his personality, engaging but quietly intense.

"Mark's not a natural schmoozer or glad-hander," said David Meckel, director of research and planning at California College of the Arts. "He's very personable, but mostly focused on doing the work."

After attending Harvard University, where he majored in American history and visual and environmental studies, Cavagnero moved west to study architecture at UC Berkeley. He earned his master's degree and then headed back east to join the New York office of Edward Larrabee Barnes, a modernist whose best work emphasized interior precision over external drama.

Five years later he was back in the Bay Area, opening a firm that had only four employees when Cavagnero was selected in 1992 as associate architect on Barnes' design team for the renovation and underground expansion of the California Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park. The die was cast.

"After the Legion turned out well, the calls I got were all cultural," Cavagnero said. "Funny, for us it's easier to get a museum or a theater than an eight-unit infill building."

In the case of SFJazz, Executive Director Randall Kline first called Cavagnero in 2004. The building that opens this week finally broke ground in 2011.

"He has incredible tenacity," Meckel said. "I've never seen him discouraged about a project, no matter how bad things get. He always believes it will work out."

Tone maintained

Cavagnero can point out details at SFJazz that were value-engineered, such as the lobby ceiling where his original concept gave way to black acoustic insulation mats held in place by steel mesh panels. But he does so with a hint of pride at maintaining the overall tone, rather than frustration at what could have been.